Special Care Nursery for Orphaned Babies

Loving Care for HuiJun

By Lynn Wang - Program Coordinator

HuiJun before surgery

HuiJun came to the Special Care Nursery at the China Care Home in Beijing last year as a 1-year-old little girl who was born with a cleft lip and palate, a deformation in her left hand, and no right arm. In just 10 months, HuiJun underwent three surgeries.

Her first surgery was to repair her cleft lip. After HuiJun was discharged from the hospital, she recuperated quickly under the loving eye of her foster mom.

HuiJun didn’t let her disabilities hold her back. Because of her hand deformity, she practiced using her toes a lot. When her foster mom put a toy in front of her, she moved her body towards it and then used her foot to reach for the toy. Her foster mom encouraged her to keep trying until she could pick the toy up with her toes.

HuiJun would use her left arm to support herself and became very adept at crawling on her left side, which soon led to walking. Though balancing was difficult at the beginning, with persistent practice she learned to walk a few steps on her own.

Six months after her first surgery, HuiJun had surgery on her hand so that she could finally move her thumb and little finger separately. After she healed, her foster mom helped her practice lifting or pinching small objects. We were all so proud of the progress she made. HuiJun’s final surgery in April was to repair her cleft palate.

Every time HuiJin would return to the Special Care Nursery from the hospital she would be thrilled to see her foster mom, holding on to her tightly and crying when other people held her.

Now, nearly a year after she arrived, HuiJun can use her fingers to reach for the cookies in her foster mom’s hand and eat them. Sometimes she uses both her hands and feet to accomplish tasks.She can say and understand a few words, such as “come here,” “eye,”“ear” and “kiss.” We are all so happy that HuiJin has become such a healthy, happy little girl.

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